Platform sole for footwear



Jn. 23, F STARNER 2,367,808

PLATFORM SOLE FOR FOOTWEAR Filed July 26, 1941 Patented Jan. 23, 1945 PLATFORM SOLE FOR FOOTWEAR Irving F. Starner, Belmont, Mass.,

B. F. Goodrich Com assigner to The pany, New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application Iluly 26, 1941, Serial No. 404,187

(Cl. 3S- 30) 3 Claims.

This invention relates to footwear and more particularly to platform soles for shoes, and the invention is especially useful in the manufacture of shoes for sport wear.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide a shoe with a midsole of flexible fibrous material extending the full length of the shoe and having its edge margins covered with cloth or other material as a unit, the midsole being mounted between a shoe upper and an outsole to complete the shoe. However, difficulties have been encountered in the prior constructions due in part to the fact that the fibrous material has had little strength and the marginal covering has had to sustain the entire tensile load between the upper and the outsole. When such covering material in the prior constructions has become worn or mildewed from exposure to dampnessy the shoe often has separated at the heel portion. Furthermore the :dbrous material at the heel portion of the shoe where it has been thicker has not properly supported the weight of the wearer with suficient stability. Furthermore the fibrous material has not been adapted to hold nails or other securing means so that renewal of the heel portion of the sole has been dimcult or impossible.

The present invention aims to overcome these dimculties and to provide an improved product.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide an article having stability of the heel portion, to provide for securely anchoring the upper and the outsole at the heel of the midsole, to provide for securely attaching heel lifts in repairing the shoe, to provide greater strength, and generally to provide a neat and simple construction.

These and other objects will appear Afrom the following description and the accompanying drawing.

Of the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a midsole constructed according to and embodying the invention in one of its forms, portions of the upper and the outsole being shown assembled therewith.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same with the upper and outsole removed.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modified construction.

Fig. d is a similar view showing a further modication of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing still another form of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the midsole of Fig. 1, parts being broken away.

forwardly thereof to provide the shank and toe portions, and a marginal covering extends about and is suitably secured to the assembled materials, providing a platform sole as a unitary article.

Referring to the drawing, and rst to the illustrative embodiment of Figs. l and 2 of the drawing, the numeral lll designates the midsole, Il the outsole and i2 the upper of a shoe of the platform sole type. The midsole extends the full length of the upper and comprises a heel block I4 of stiff, nailable and desirably substantially rigid material such as wood, a platform cushion I 5 of flexible, preferably fibrous material, such as felt or sponge rubber, extending from the toe to a position where its abuts the breast margin of the heel block, and a wedge member i6 of material preferably stiier than the platform cushion but less stili' than the heel block and of loosely matted paper, ber, cork, cork composition, or other suitable material. The platform cushion l5 extends over the wedge member and terminates with its upper face iiush with the heel These parts are joined to each other by adhesion, for example as by the use of rubber cement. A binder strip ll of strong, thin rubberized fabric may be secured along the lower face of the midsole so as to overlap the wedge member at each end thereof with its ends secured to the heel block and the platform cushion respectively in a position effective to resist separation of the heel block and the cushion platform and wedge members when the sole is bent in walking.

The heel block is at'on its tread face so as to provide a wide cementing or nailing area to contact with the outsole. Its heel seat surface, however, is preferably cupped, as at I8 to conform to and support the heel of the wearer, and preferably has a slight central protuberance le at the center to provide a comfortable support.

A marginal covering 20 extends around the en tire periphery of the midsole with its upper margin 2l and its lower margin 22 overlapping and cemented to the upper and lower faces of the midsole. This strip is preferably of fabric but may be of leather, artificial leather, rubberized fabric, or any suitable material adapted to match or con-v 4trast with the other exposed parts of the shoe.

The heel blockA I4 of 'woodorother stiff, nailable material provides; a solidrsupport for the ankle of the wearer and resists spreading. of the some cases this manner of fastening iss'ufiicient,

the heelblock 'provides a secureanchorage to which either the upper or the sole or bth may be firmly secured by fnails 23, 24 driven into the heel block', thereby relievingthe covering12ll vof tensile stresses. The wedge I6 supportsthe archl at the shank of the shoe andassists. in securing the cushion sole I5 to the heel block.-

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 3 the construction is similar to that of the first embodiment except that two layers 30, 3I of sole cushion material such as felt are secured together face to face to provide the forward part of the midsole and are spaced apart at the shank to receive a wedge member 32 of stiffer fibrous material such as paper fiber composition. The heel block 33 is similar to the heel block I4, the binder strip 34 is similar to the binder strip Il, and the covering 35 is similar to the covering 20. This construction provides more cushioning at the shank portion of the article.

The form of the invention shown in Fig. 4 is similar to the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 except that the wedge member 40 is applied above the cushion platform 4I and the wedge member may be made of more resilient material. The heel block 42, binder strip 43, and covering 44 are similar in arrangement and construction to the similar parts I4, I'l and 20 previously described.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5, the construction of the platform cushion 5U, wedge member 5I, binder stripA 52, and covering 53 are similar to the corresponding parts of Fig. l. The heel block 54 is similar to the heel block I4 but this block is of lessl thickness and a lift 55 of wear resistingmaterial such as leather or rubber soling is secured thereunder to provide additional wear to the shoe. lift may be made as a separate piece, and may beof uniform thickness or tapered, as desirec l-,.or it may be made integral with the outsole asshown for example in Fig. 'I at 55. Such lift has the advantage of providing additional'wear thicknessat the heel.

In order to provide greater, bendability of the midsole at the ball of the shoe the platform layer I5, or the corresponding layers 30"4 I' and 50, may be creased crosswise of the midsole as at 60 to provide determinate bending creases. This may be done after assembly to the parts of the midsole by compressing the assembled material Aalong the desired lines by means of 'dies under'pressure.

In manufacturing thesm'idsole-o'f the .invention the heel block is formed bymachining from wood or other suitably sti!! nailable material. The cushion platform is cut from sheet stock such as felt or sponge rubber and the wedge member is cut from a block of suitable material such as pressed paper fiber, cork, or other suitable semi-rigid material. These parts are then preferably dipped in rubber cement and dried. When dry the parts are assembled as shown, the binder strip of rubberized fabric is pasted in place, and the marginal covering is applied. After assembly the midsole may be creased as at 60 by applying pressure thereto to increase bendability.

The complete midsole may be assembled as a unit with an outsole and an upper of any style to complete an article of footwear, or the midsole parts may be assembled with other shoe parts to provide such a midsole as will be understood byl those skilled in the art. i

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

l. A platform sole assembly for footwear, said sole assembly comprising a heel block of wood having a concave heel seat formed on its upper face, and a body structure extending forwardly of said block and associated therewith, said body structure comprising a wedge member of relatively stiff material adjacent the breast edge of said heel block, and a platform of cushion material extending forwardly of said heel block over said Wedge member with its upper face flush with said heel seat.

2. A platform sole assembly for footwear, said sole assembly comprising a heel block of stiff nail- .able material having a heel breast face, and a body structure of less stiff material extending forwardly of said breast face, said body structure comprising a wedge member of material less stiff than said heel block at the breast face of the heel block, and layers of platform cushioning material extending above and below said wedge member to said heel block and along each other forwardly of said wedge member, said body structure terminating at the breast face of said heel block.

3. A platform sole assembly for footwear, said sole assembly comprising a heel block of stiff nailable material having a heel breast face and a heel seat surface, a body structure extending forwardly of said breast face, said body structure being thicker than said heel block at said heel breast and being ush with the heel seat surface of said heel block, and a wear-resisting outsole secured along the entire lower face of said assembly, the upper face of said outsole being stepped at the heel breast of said heel block and said outsole being thicker rearwardly of the step to conform with the lower face of the heel block.

IRVING F. STARNER. 

